1052 'TRANCEWORLD'

The red colour is not accidental. It is
a link across cultures leading into
common background of shamanic trance. In
Pakistan, Sehwan Sharif before the
arrival of Islam was called Shivastan, a
holy city of the cosmic dancer, Shiva.
Coming here from India is easy to see
the connection, and many Hindus of Sindh
come to respect the saint too.

The main technique of getting in
contact with the divine, apart from
breath control, meditation and hashish
is for them the dhamal, sacred trance to the rhythm of drums.
All time in various spots in Sehwan
Sharif and every evening in the
courtyard of temple built on the grave
of their saint the dhamalis, as the dancers are called, gather,
even after dark sweating from the heat
of day reflecting from marble floors.
They are barefoot and intoxicated, with
smoke and love for the saint. Mast Qalandar! The shouts echo off the temple walls, mast being the state of ecstasy, temporary
abandonment, release from the rules of
this world, a glimpse of the eternal, to
be reached for ever after a long path or
in a sudden enlightenment, but here
savored by impatient souls longing the
taste of being connected.

There are some who leave ordinary lives
having tasted the drunken state, as the
crazy Sufi sometimes call it, but most
are ordinary pilgrims who want to
participate in this special occasion, on
anniversary of saint’s marriage to
eternity, urs, the ending of this life. By getting
into the trance they heal themselves,
they rinse off the pollution of their
stress and troubles. Women loosen their
hair, they are free to do whatever comes
to them. Ordinary rules do not apply,
for it is not their ego that acts, but
what is within and without.